Seambuster

ABSTRACT

A seambuster adapted for pressing trousers is disclosed. The seambuster includes a twin buck configuration which provides for pulling a separate vacuum on each of four pressing surfaces, and with individual heating means for each pressing surface.

United States Patent McCormac'k et al.

SEAMBUSTER Inventors: Leonard J. McCormack,

Clearbrook, Va.; Wallace L.

DeGrange, .lr., Martinburg, W. Va.

Reimers Electric Steam, Inc., Clearbrook, Va.

Filed: July 8, 1974 Appl. No.: 486,439

Assignee:

US. Cl. 223/73, 38/1 B, 38/16 Int. Cl. D060 15/00 Field of Search 38/1 B, 16, 17, 135;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1952 Null et al. 38/135 [451 Feb. 11,1975

Golden 223/73 X 2,719,422 10/1955 3,310,595 3/1967 Weingarten.... 3,366,292 1/1968 Thompson 223/73 Primary ExaminerGeo V. Larkin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Holman & Stern [57] ABSTRACT A seambuster adapted for pressing trousers is disclosed. The seambuster includes a twin buck configuration which provides for pulling a separate vacuum on each of four pressing surfaces, and with individual heating means for each pressing surface.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIEB FEB! 1 I975 SHEET 2 OF 2 SEAMBUSTER BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with a seambuster. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with seambuster apparatus having a twin mode buck configuration which includes a separate vacuum valve for each of four pressing surfaces, together with an individual heater element for each surface. The twin buck mode configuration of the present invention is particularly well adapted for pressing the edges or seams of trousers. I

Various types of pressing equipment commonly identified as seambusters are known in the prior art, such equipment being employed by manufacturers of trousers and other similar types of wearing apparel. Such prior art equipment includes that described in US. Pat. No. 3,366,292 to Thompson. In the apparatus of the Thompson patent, a twin buck configuration is provided, with the vacuum system being set up so that when a vacuum is required, a negative or vacuum pressure is applied to both bucks or pressing extensions. Within each of these bucks, a piece of flat plastic strip, called a clapper valve, is so arranged as to drop down by gravity and seal the bottom set of holes, such an arrangement being designed to cut off the vacuum through the bottom holes where it is not needed. This prior art system therefore at least partially distributes the vacuum over both top pressing surfaces. In such a prior art system, the pulling of a vacuum upon one surface results in the cooling or chilling of the other operative surfaces.

By the present invention, there is provided a seambuster with twin mode buck configuration which overcomes the disadvantages of prior art equipment such as that described in the Thompson patent. The seambuster appparatus of the present invention is constructed so as to overcome particularly the disadvantages associated with pressing surfaces which lack ade' quate heat and vacuum.

The seambuster apparatus of the present invention is provided with four pressing surfaces, with provision being made for pulling a vacuum on one surface as that surface is employed in pressing, while retaining hot pressing surfaces on the other three surfaces. The apparatus of the present invention incorporates the further advantage of allowing the pressing surface of each buck to have a temperature recovery cycle nearly 3 times that of previously known seambusters. Such a recovery cycle insures that, when an operator has pressed one pair of slacks, for example, and returns the bucks to their initial position, the pressing surface will have regained its optimum pressing temperature.

The seambuster of the present invention includes a pair of identical pressing bucks, with each buck being divided into an upper and lower compartment, the outer surfaces of which provide longitudinally extending pressing surfaces. Each of the four pressing surfaces which are thus provided is associated with a separate compartment in the upper and lower portions of the buck, respectively, and each of these compartments has an individual means for providing heat and vacuum to the compartment.

The vacuum system employed in the seambuster of the present invention includes two separate vacuum valves, mechanically operated by foot pedals, which are interconnected via two separate manifold outlets to the upper compartments of the pressing bucksxWith such an arrangement, depression of one foot pedal applies vacuum to the upper compartment of one buck, while depressing a second pedal applies vacuum to the upper compartment of the adjacent buck. It should be pointed out that, up to this time, the lower two buck compartments have had no exposure to vacuum. Now, by'rotating the buck 180 around its longitudinal axis, the lower compartment of each buck will be aligned with the same two manifold outlets and the procedure may be repeated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the seambuster apparatus of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the seambuster of the present'invention, with cut-away portion and with some components shown schematically;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the seam buster apparatus shown in FIG. 1, partially in crosssection and taken from within the pedestal of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the bearing plate of the seambuster;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the buck plate of the seambuster;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the rotatable shaft and buck plate with attached pressing bucks; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of one of the pressing bucks, taken along line 6--6 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of the seambuster of the present invention as-shown in FIGS. 1 through 6, there is provided apparatus 10 which includes a hollow pedestal 11 having mounted therein for rotation a horizontally disposed shaft 12. At one end of the shaft 12, exteriorly of the pedestal 11, there is fixedly attached a buck plate 13 for rotation with the shaft 12. A bearing plate 14 is mounted by bolt means 31 so as to be flush against the exterior surface of the pedestal 11, adjacent the buck plate 13, with a small space remaining between the bearing plate 14 and buck plate 13. The shaft 12 is journaled in bearings 15 in the bearing plate 14 at the end adjacent the buck plate 13, while the opposite end of the shaft 12 is suitably mounted for rotation within a sleeve 16 attached to the interior of the pedestal 11 by bolts or similar means.

A pair of pressing bucks 17 are mounted upon the buck plate 13 for rotation therewith in a side by side arrangement so as to extend in a common horizontal plane outwardly from the pedestal 11. The bucks 17 may be first mounted upon a bracket 32 by any suitable attachment means (not shown), with the bracket 32 then being mounted upon the buck plate 13 by means of mounting plate 33 and bolts 34. A horizontal base member 18 is attached along the lower inner edge of the pedestal 11, with a pair of vacuum pedals 19 and a buck-turning pedal 20 being mounted on the base member 18 for use by the operator of the seambuster apparatus 10, in a manner to be described hereinafter.

The two pressing bucks 17 are formed as hollow elongated members of rectangular cross-section, as shown in FIG. 6, and with rounded ends so as to fit easily within the legs of a pair of slacks or trousers. Each. buck 17 is provided with a central partition 21 which extends the length of the buck 17 and separates the buck 17 into upper 22 and lower 23 longitudinalcompartments. An electrical heating element 24 is located in each of the upper 22 and lower 23 compartments in each buck 17. These heating elements 24 extend the length of the bucks 17 and are electrically connected to a suitable source of electricity (not shown) operated by a common switch so that heat may be supplied simultaneously to the heating elements 24 in all four compartments of the two bucks 17.

Mounted within the interior of the pedestal 11 by suitable bracket means (not shown) is a vacuum system which includes two separate vacuum activator valves 25 of conventional design. For purposes of clarity, only one valve 25 is shown in FIG. 1, but in the actual apparatus 10, a second valve 25 is mounted in side by side relationship with the valve 25 shown. Each valve 25 is mechanically operable by a pulley 26 and wire 27 arrangement between the valve 25 and one of the vacuum pedals 19. The two valves 25 interconnect through a manifold 28 with a common vacuum source. Each valve 25 is connected at its inlet end to a manifold outlet 29 which interconnects with the bearing plate 14 so as to form around the outer periphery of one of the holes 30 provided in the bearing plate 14 for passage of air during the creation of a vacuum in the upper compartments 22 of each buck 17.

The buck plate 13 is provided with four holes 35 which extend through the width of the buck plate 13, as well as the mounting bracket 32, and which are arranged so as to lie at the inner ends of the upper 22 and lower 23 compartments of the bucks 17. A series of four bushings 36 are mounted upon the inner surface of the buck plate 13, with the outer surfaces of these bushings 36 just touching the bearing plate 14.

The buck plate 13 and bearing plate 14 are aligned so that fluid communication is provided from the upper compartments 22 of the bucks 17 through the upper pair of the holes 35 in the buck plate 13, as well as the upper bushings 36, on through the holes 30 in the bearing plate 14 to the manifold outlets 29 and vacuum activator valves 25. Thus a vacuum may be drawn on the upper compartments 22 while pressing the trouser seams resting on the upper surfaces of the bucks 17. When it is desired to press the trouser seams on the lower surfaces of the bucks 17, the bucks 17 may be rotated through 180 so that the lower compartments 23 ofthc bucks 17 will then occupy the upper position and be in fluid communication with the vacuum activator valves 25. Two additional bushings 37 are mounted upon the buck'plate 13 on a common circle on the inner surface of the buck plate 13 with the other bushings 36, so that, as the buck plate 13 and bucks 17 are rotated through the 180 angle, these additional bushings 37 will assist in retaining the vacuum which may be present in the manifold outlets 29. i

The means 38 for rotating the bucks 17 through 180 in order to provide the four pressing surfaces is shown schematically in FIG. 1, as any suitable conventional apparatus may be employed for this purpose. An example of such rotating means is described, for-example, in

US. Pat. No. 3,366,292 to Thompson, and the disclosure of this patent is incorporated herein by reference. Inasmuch as the present apparatus 10 provides for foot pedal control of the vacuum and buck-turning operations, the micro-switch attached to the steam hand iron in the Thompson patent could be incorporated in the foot pedal 20 for operation of the bucks 17.-

A pair of stop pins 41 are mounted upon the pedestal 11 adjacent to the periphery of the buck plate 13 and on opposite sides thereof, with a buck plate pin 42 being installed upon the buck plate 13 and aligned with the stop pins 41 in order to limit the rotation of the buck plate 13 and attached bucks 17 to an angle of 180. A latch assembly 43 is also attached to the pedestal 11 adjacent the buck plate 13, with a pair of holes 44 being provided in the periphery of the buck plate 13, as shown in FIG. 4, to receive a spring-loaded latching element of the assembly 43 so as to lock the buck plate 13 in either of the rotatable positions l80 apart.

The materials of construction for the pressing bucks 17 maybe aluminum or an aluminum frame covered with a fireproofed fabric material such as is commonly used in pressing operations. The top and bottom surface of each buck 17 is perforated in order to provide for pulling air through the bucks 17 as a vacuum is drawn, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The rotatable shaft 12 and plate members 13, 14 may be constructed of steel or other suitable material. I

In operation, the operator will station himself with the pedestal 11 on his left and in proximity to the bucks l7 and operating pedals l9 and 20 for control of vacuum and buck rotation, respectively. Heat is applied to the four compartments 22, 23 of the bucks 17 by switching on the heating elements 24. A pair of trousers is placed upon the bucks 17 and the two seams on the upper pressing surfaces may be pressed by means of a steam hand iron in a conventional manner. As a seam on a particular buck is pressed, the vacuum pedal 19 controlling the vacuumfor that buck 17 is depressed, and a vacuum is drawn and maintained during the time that pressing of the seam takes place. Upon completion of pressing the first seam, the initially operated vacuum pedal 19 is released and the adjacent pedal 19 is depressed to draw a vacuum for the adjacent buck 17 as the second seam is pressed. When the second seam has been pressed, the second vacuum pedal 19 is released and the buck-rotating pedal 20 is depressed to rotate the bucks 17 so that the two remaining seams of the pair of trousers may be pressed. The previously described procedure for operating the vacuum pedals 19 is then repeated in order to provide a vacuum while pressing the two remaining seams.

Since trousers have four seams to be broken, each of the bucks I7 is constructed as a double or twin compartmented chamber, with upper 22 and lower 23 chambers, and with suitable manifold systems for the vacuum valves 25, with the result that each seam may be exposed to as much as three times the vacuum as with prior systems. By incorporating a heating element 24 into each of these chambers 22, 23, a pressing surface is thus provided for each seam. It has been found that the twin mode buck configuration of the present invention provides a system which enjoys a recovery cycle nearly three times as long as that of competitive units. Therefore, hotter bucks are provided for each seam. Furthermore, a power savings of greater than percent is obtained by the use of the seambuster of the present invention.

The problems of prior art equipment which are overcome by the seambuster of the present invention include, first of all, lack of adequate heat to bust the seams and maintain the bucks in a dry condition and, secondly, not enough vacuum to extract the remaining moisture. Such prior art seambusters have not performed up to acceptable levels in providing well pressed surfaces, and such disadvantages are effectively overcome by the seambuster of the present invention.

it is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

It is claimed:

1. A seambuster apparatus for pressing fabric materials, comprising: a hollow pedestal; a rotatable shaft mounted in said pedestal; means for rotating said shaft through an angle of 180; a buck plate mounted for rotation on one end of said shaft exteriorly of said pedestal; a pair of elongated pressing bucks, one end of each buck being attached to said buck plate, each pressing buck being of generally rectangular cross-section with the top and bottom surface thereof being perforated, and being divided by a partition into an upper and lower compartment extending the length of said buck; four holes extending through the central portion of said buck plate, said holes being aligned with the ends of the four buck compartments; a pair of vacuum activator valves mounted in said pedestal, said valves being connected at their outlet ends to a common vacuum source and each valve. being connected at its inlet end to a conduit which extends to a hole in a bearing plate mounted on the exterior of the pedestal, said bearing plate being aligned with'the buck plate so that each of the two holes in the bearing plate is in alignment with a respective upper hole in the buck plate, with the result that fluid communication is provided between each upper buck compartment and a respective vacuum activator valve; means for operating each vacuum activator valve to draw a vacuum on the corresponding upper buck compartment; a heating element located in each of the four compartments and extending the length thereof; and means for operating each heating element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein pedal means is provided for operating each vacuum activator valve and for rotating said shaft.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the buck plate is provided with a series of four bushings on its interior surface adjacent said bearing plate, said bushings surrounding the four holes in the buck plate.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein an additional pair of bushings is provided on said interior surface, said pair of bushings being located on a common circle with the other four bushings and diagonally opposite to each other. 

1. A seambuster apparatus for pressing fabric materials, comprising: a hollow pedestal; a rotatable shaft mounted in said pedestal; means for rotating said shaft through an angle of 180*; a buck plate mounted for rotation on one end of said shaft exteriorly of said pedestal; a pair of elongated pressing bucks, one end of each buck being attached to said buck plate, each pressing buck being of generally rectangular cross-section with the top and bottom surface thereof being perforated, and being divided by a partition into an upper and lower compartment extending the length of said buck; four holes extending through the central portion of said buck plate, said holes being aligned with the ends of the four buck compartments; a pair of vacuum activator valves mounted in said pedestal, said valves being connected at their outlet ends to a common vacuum source and each valve being connected at its inlet end to a conduit which extends to a hole in a bearing plate mounted on the exterior of the pedestal, said bearing plate being aligned with the buck plate so that each of the two holes in the bearing plate is in alignment with a respective upper hole in the buck plate, with the result that fluid communication is provided between each upper buck compartment and a respective vacuum activator valve; means for operating each vacuum activator valve to draw a vacuum on the corresponding upper buck compartment; a heating element located in each of the four compartments and extending the length thereof; and means for operating each heating element.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein pedal means is provided for operating each vacuum activator valve and for rotating said shaft.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the buck plate is provided with a series of four bushings on its interior surface adjacent said bearing plate, said bushings surrounding the four holes in the buck plate.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein an additional pair of bushings is provided on said interior surface, said pair of bushings being located on a common circle with the other four bushings and diagonally opposite to each other. 